Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Got a "need more info" letter from DYS.

I got a letter from DYS saying they need more info--I'm not sure what to include. I didn't include anything extra with the original application.

Did they say what kind of info?
You sent IQ and achievement tests right?

I

Cathy A,
This is a positive development. Did they give any guidance at all as to what additional info to include? Perhaps an email to them if not....

Good luck,
Grinity

DS turned 5 in November. Since we applied to DYS he has been accelerated to first grade. Do you think that is relevant?

They asked for "additional information about your child, including work samples or other materials."

Yes.

Cathy, We had received a similar letter in January. They accepted DS's scores, but need to see his academic achievement, as his qualifying WIAT scores were in the verbal area. I was very pleased to receive that letter, and am hopeful that DS will eventually be accepted.

I know it seems kind of a vague request. Just send in anything you can find that you think really speaks of him and isn't your average 5yo thing to do.
It could be drawings, stories, whatever. I don't think anyone expects a 5yo to write a novel. Maybe more is better since you aren't sure what they are asking for.

Good luck,

Incog

Sure include the grade skip and he was early enteranced also, right? Ask his first grade teacher to write another letter of reccomendation, make a list of current favorite pleasure reading books, and include documentation of any 'projects' that DS might be engaged in.

Did you do any afterschooling? if so, include that as 'work samples.'

Love,
Grinity

Woot! Someone got SOMETHING!

Now I'm worried. We sent the app + IQ + achievement test reports. That was all. I reeeeeally hope they don't ask for samples.

I can imagine how you feel right now. I would just want it to be over with. *hug*

Can I ask if your child's results were right on the cusp of what they accept? I'm trying to predict whether they will ask us to submit more info. Some of our IQ results were only a few points over their standard (some subtests were way over) and the achievement tests were ceiling level.

Tara

Tara,

I'm guessing Cathy is somewhere out west? I'm sure the rest of the letters will be here Monday or Tuesday.

Not much longer now.



I

Tara, I think DS' scores were a bit lower than your child's. Maybe you'll get that fat "YES" envelope

ETA: The letter says, "The test score information included with the application meets our minimum eligibility criteria in at least one significant area."

CA

Okay, I'm on the East Coast, so it will likely be early next week.

Tara

See, all of us waiting will get something Monday, I bet.
Cathy, I got that same letter and sent in WIAT test results. I don't know if my daughter was accepted but will probably find out tommorow.
Please don't be frustrated about it.
Good luck gathering your materials.

I

That's good news, Cathy. Better than a no, and plenty of kids got in after a "need more" letter.

Have you videotaped anything? I always say that's what I'd do if/when I get a "need more" letter.

Not really... Maybe I'll videotape him doing science stuff. He likes to collect specimens and prepare slides for his microscope. He also experimented with other lenses he had to see if he could increase the magnification. He loves to talk about physics--energy, light, gravity, magnetism...

He loves to make jokes and puns but these are spontaneous and hard to catch on video. He got me this morning--he was telling me something and then he said, "Don't say that." I said, "I didn't say that!" and he laughed and said, "You just did! You said, 'that'!"

Need more info isn't that bad. Of course it would be much better if he were already in, but it's just question of time. I could see how one could obsess about the additional portfolio though. I agree video is probably the best solution.

Tara, dtto what Debbie said, no way your son wouldn't get in. For what it's worth DS5 got in without the need more info and I still have quite strong impostor syndrome. I hope it will go away with time.

Good luck to the rest of you. I hope your thick letters will come on Monday.

We didn't even get mail today! Too much snow, I guess.

So, Dottie, that's the utter end of the "Neither rain, nor snow..." myth about postal carriers.

Sheesh. Wimps. It wasn't even a real blizzard here. <eye roll>

Kriston,
Did you consider the possibility that he was too scared to get near your door, since he didn't have what you were looking for

LOL! No, our mailbox is by the street. I wouldn't have had time to get my boots on before he escaped.

No, the mail carriers are just weather-wimps around here...like everyone else!

Ah, for some Northerners with thicker blood! And better snow-driving abilities!

Cathy,
the science video sounds great.
As for the puns, just keep a runnning list of 'cute' verbalizations for a few weeks and throw it in.

Anything that makes you laugh or scratch your head is likely to be a sigh of 'deviation from the norm' - humor is what catches us off gaurd.

I happended to be looking through my stuff, and saw that my letter was a 'needs more info' as well. Back then it was a 5 minute phonecall.

Smiles,
Grinity

I try to keep in mind that we have to do our best to distinguish our children not from ND children, but from MG children. Just GT behavior isn't enough.

Also, try to show your child doing things 3+ years above age level if possible.

I don't know if that helps, but it helped me to decide what to include as I was putting together our initial application. Now, whether it was enough to get our DS in or not...We'll see...